I Am, We Are
by Miriku-'-'-Yami no Hikari
Summary: Yugi is having nightmares. Yami goes to comfort him, and learns a little more than what he expected. Oneshot.


**This is just an angsty little oneshot I decided to put up. I think it's pretty good, even if it moves a little fast...but then again, I'm the one that wrote it. Anyway, R&R!**

**Disclaimer:** Nope. I don't own anything pertaining to this seriese--except plushies, posters, and cards! (Huggles Yami plushie excitedly. Pulls little string on back of plushie. "Together, we can do it!" Yay, positive phrases Yami plushie!)

**Yami POV**

I stood by the window in the room I shared with Yugi, staring out at the stars. It was late; almost midnight. Yugi was asleep. I listened to his slow breathing, the only sound other than the wind outside.

_It's good that he has the chance to rest—he needs it. They all need it._

I sighed, leaning against the windowsill. _All that mess with Dartz really took its toll on him. And the others. I'm just glad it's over._

I turned to watch my _hikari_ sleeping. It amazed me to no end; how he could have gone through so much, and still seem so very innocent. He looked so young at that moment, sleeping peacefully, all our past hardships temporarily forgotten.

He was even smiling slightly.

_I haven't seen him smile since…since…I don't even remember when the last time was._

I turned back to the window. _We've been through so much together…I can barely remember a time when we _weren't _together._

Suddenly, I heard a faint noise. I turned around. Yugi was twitching, whimpering fitfully. He began to toss and turn. I walked up to the bed to see what was wrong.

I leaned over—and his eyes snapped open. He sat bolt upright, shoving me back in the process. He looked wildly around the room, panting.

I stood up and moved slowly over to him. "Yugi-ken?"

His head whipped around to stare at me. He grabbed my arm and clung to it like a lifeline.

"They're back…!" he whispered. There was pure terror in his eyes, eclipsing all other emotions. "Marik…Dartz…the Leviathan…they know where I am! They're coming for me…!"

"Shhh…" I whispered soothingly. "It was just a dream, Yugi-ken."

The wild light of fear began to fade from his amethyst eyes. "Just…a dream…?"

"Yes. All a dream. Marik is gone. Dartz is gone. The Leviathan is gone. None of them are coming back any time soon. It was all a nightmare."

"Yes…" Yugi closed his eyes, resting a hand against his forehead. "It _was_ a nightmare, wasn't it? I'm sorry, Yami-ken…"

I smiled softly. "Sorry? What for? I was already awake."

Yugi shook his head. "No…not that. For all I've put you through. For all that you've had to endure because you're my friend."

I sat next to him on his bed. "If anyone should be apologizing, it's _me_. I'm sorry that I had to be here. I'm sorry that my past had to come back to haunt me—and therefore, _you_—so many times."

I looked away. I couldn't believe that I was telling him this, but it was the truth.

"If it had been my choice, none of this would have happened. You would be a normal boy, with a normal life, who had never even _heard_ of the Millennium Items. I'd still be in that Puzzle, unable to cause the pain and suffering that I have. Sometimes that is what I wish had happened—that there was no such thing as the Shadow Games. Then I wouldn't be here, and you and your friends wouldn't be in this mess."

Yugi put his arms around my neck. "Don't say that…."

Tears welled in my eyes. I was glad that I was looking away—the _last_ thing Yugi needed to see at this point was me breaking down. But, try as I might, I couldn't hide the quaver in my voice.

"You deserve better than me. I've put you through…made you endure…so much…it's hard for me to believe that you can still bear being around me. If you had been anyone else…"

I choked off the rest of the sentence. Yugi didn't need to hear this. It would only crush him further. I didn't want anything else to happen to him, for him to come to any more harm. Physical _or_ emotional.

"If I had been anyone else, what?"

I sighed. "Forgive me, Yugi. I…ah…'overstep my authority'. I shouldn't be telling you these things."

Yugi held me closer. "I don't want anyone to use it against you. _'Secrets kept are weapons just waiting to be used by the enemy'_. I don't want anything else to hurt you, Yami-ken."

Such an uncanny echo of my own thoughts.

"If you had been anyone else, you would have gotten rid of the Puzzle long ago. Either that, or my darkness would have consumed you. Either way, we both would have lost. It's just too…too…"

"Too paradoxial?"

"I guess you could say that…"

"Well, I won't."

I looked at him, surprised at his fierce tone. "What?"

"Don't you understand, Yami? You're one of the best things that's ever happened to me. If you weren't here, I'd be like I was before—weak, frightened, friendless. You've helped me to be strong, to believe in myself and in the Heart of the Cards. Why can't you understand that?"

He looked imploringly up at me. "Without you, I'd be nothing. You're part of me, remember? One half doesn't make a whole. Two do. You _are_ my other half, not just representing it."

I smiled softly at my _hikari._ "Thank you, Yugi-ken. I needed to know that."

Yugi smiled. Then he yawned. "Oh…I'm tired. I'm going to go back to sleep now. You should, too."

"I think I'll do just that."

Yugi slipped back under his blanket, and immediately began to drift off. As he fell into his own dreams, he whispered, "G'night, _jikei_…"

I paused. _Did…did he just call me 'eldest brother'?_

I smiled softly at no one in particular. "Goodnight, _jakutei _(little brother). Sleep well."

I turned back to the window for a moment, before lying on the cot that was my bed.

_You need it. We all need it._


End file.
